Sneaky Chef is cooking for kids

SNEAKY CHEFCovert cooking for kidsCookbook author shares her talent for making children's food more wholesome

MARY VUONG, Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle

Published 5:30 am, Wednesday, July 4, 2007

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As the mother of two finicky eaters, Lapine knows how hard it is to get kids to eat right. Her new cookbook The Sneaky Chef: Simple Strategies for Hiding Healthy Foods in Kids' Favorite Meals can help.

As the mother of two finicky eaters, Lapine knows how hard it is to get kids to eat right. Her new cookbook The Sneaky Chef: Simple Strategies for Hiding Healthy Foods in Kids' Favorite Meals can help.

Can any nutrition-minded parent resist such a tease? It's splashed across the cover of The Sneaky Chef: Simple Strategies for Hiding Healthy Foods in Kids' Favorite Meals by Missy Chase Lapine (Running Press, $18), hinting at the content of this clever cookbook.

Although designed for adults burdened with picky eaters, Sneaky Chef holds appeal even for adults who want to eat more healthfully. The ideas go beyond the usual tricks when dealing with little ones. Sure, you can cut food into cute shapes, encourage them to help you cook and serve the one vegetable they like over and over, but eventually all that may stop working - or maybe it never did. What next?

Enter Lapine. The former publisher of Eating Well magazine is the mother of two finicky eaters. Life was easy in the beginning. Her first child, Emily, ate everything on her plate as a baby. It was daughter Samantha, 6, who forced Mom into the Sneaky Chef revolution. When Samantha turned 2 1/2 years old, she began to rebel, followed by Emily, now 9.

"The food is really, truly hidden inside their favorite meals,'' Lapine says. "I (still) try to teach them good nutrition,'' but this way, she can serve "fun'' vegetables, such as artichokes, at the kids' own pace, without pressuring them to consume enough nutrients.

Key to Sneaky Chef recipes are "Make-Ahead'' purées and blends, easy to whip up and store. You can also buy some of these items ready-made.

"It makes it very easy and palatable, so you don't feel like you're on a diet,'' Lapine says. "For me, food is pleasure and food is medicine.''

For all her healthy intentions, Lapine is realistic, too. She knows a parent's time crunch or kid's stubborn streak may dictate boxed macaroni and cheese for dinner; in that case, she would add puréed white beans or sweet potatoes and carrots to the mix. Even SpaghettiOs get a nutritional makeover in her book.

A good way to slip nutrients into recipes is with multivegetable purées. The Green Purée in this Magic Meatballs recipe may be prepared in advance and frozen. Easy Homemade Pasta Sauce is made with Orange and White Purées.

MAGIC MEATBALLS

Chronicle kitchen-tested recipe from The Sneaky Chef. These meatballs are softer than usual but still tasty. Extras can be frozen for months.

6 to 8 tablespoons Green Purée (recipe follows)

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1 teaspoon salt

¼ cup wheat germ, unsweetened

1 large egg, beaten

1 pound lean ground beef or turkey

2 to 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Prepare the Green Purée.

In a large bowl, combine the Green Purée and tomato paste, mixing well with the back of a fork until the green color turns brownish. Mix in salt, wheat germ and egg, and finally add the ground meat, and mix with hands until well-combined. Using damp hands, pinch off about 2 teaspoons meat, and gently shape mixture into minimeatballs.

Pan-fry or bake the meatballs as follows.

To pan-fry: Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a large (10- to 12-inch) nonstick skillet over moderately-high heat until hot but not smoking. Add meatballs in 4 batches to avoid overcrowding the pan. Allow to brown on all sides for about 5 minutes, turning occasionally with the help of 2 teaspoons. Reduce heat to low, and cook through for another 10 minutes. Transfer to a plate, and add more oil as needed for the next batch.

To bake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Brush a large cookie sheet with 2 tablespoons oil, gently place meatballs on sheet, and bake for 10 minutes. Using a spatula to loosen, turn the meatballs over to brown on the other side, then return to oven for another 10 minutes.

Serve with toothpicks as "cocktail'' meatballs, dropped in almost any soup or smothered in Easy Homemade Pasta Sauce (recipe online) over spaghetti.

Makes about 42 small meatballs.

Green Puree: This recipe makes more than you need for the meatball recipe; the leftovers can be frozen.

If using raw spinach, thoroughly wash it, even if the package says "prewashed.'' Using a vegetable steamer, steam the broccoli and spinach in 2 inches of water in a tightly covered pot for about 10 minutes. Add the peas for the last minute of steaming. (Alternatively, place broccoli and spinach in a microwave-safe bowl, cover with water, and microwave on high for 8 to 10 minutes until very tender, adding the peas for the last minute of cooking.)

Once cooked, drain the vegetables, and place them in the bowl of a food processor along with 2 tablespoons water and the lemon juice. Purée on high until as smooth as possible. Stop occasionally and push contents from top to bottom.

If necessary, add 1 or 2 tablespoons water to make a smoother purée. Store in refrigerator up to 3 days or freeze in ¼-cup portions.

Makes about 2 cups purée (double the recipe to make an additional cup).

EASY HOMEMADE PASTA SAUCE

Chronicle kitchen-tested recipe from The Sneaky Chef

¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

1 onion, finely minced or puréed

1 garlic clove, finely minced

¼ cup Orange Purée (recipe follows)

¼ cup White Purée (recipe follows)

1 (28-ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes with liquid

1 (6-ounce) can tomato paste

½ teaspoon salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Prepare the Orange and White Purées.
Place the oil in a deep saucepan over medium heat. Cook the onions and garlic until they are slightly translucent but not brown, stirring occasionally. Mix in the Orange and White Purées, tomatoes and tomato paste, and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes until the sauce thickens. Transfer sauce to a blender, and purée in batches or use a handheld blender inserted directly in the pot to purée sauce.

Stir in salt and a few grinds of pepper, to taste. Use immediately, store covered in the refrigerator for up to 1 week or freeze for up to 6 months.

Makes about 4 cups sauce.

Orange Purée: This makes more than you need for the meatball recipe but can be frozen.

1 medium sweet potato or yam, peeled and roughly chopped

3 medium to large carrots, peeled and sliced into thick chunks

In a medium pot, cover the potatoes and carrots with cold water, and boil for about 20 minutes until potatoes and especially carrots are very tender. (If the carrots aren't thoroughly cooked, they'll leave telltale little nuggets of vegetables, which will reveal their presence.)

Drain the potatoes and carrots, and put them in the food processor with 2 tablespoons water. Purée on high until smooth; no chunks should remain. Stop occasionally to push the contents from top to bottom. If necessary, add 1 to 2 tablespoons water to make a smooth purée, but the less water the better. Store in refrigerator up to 3 days or freeze in ¼-cup portions.

Makes about 2 cups purée (double the recipe to make an additional cup).

White Purée: This makes more than you need for the meatball recipe but can be frozen.

2 cups cauliflower, cut into florets

2 small to medium zucchini, peeled and roughly chopped

1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

Steam the cauliflower in a vegetable steamer over 2 inches of water using a tightly covered pot for about 10 to 12 minutes, or until very tender. Alternatively, place cauliflower in a microwave-safe bowl, cover with water and microwave on high for 8 to 10 minutes, or until very tender.

Meanwhile, start to pulse the (raw) zucchini with lemon juice. Drain the cooked cauliflower. Working in batches if necessary, add it to the pulsed zucchini in the bowl of the food processor with 2 tablespoons water. Purée on high until smooth. Stop occasionally and push contents from top to bottom. If necessary, add 1 to 2 tablespoons water to make a smooth purée. Store in refrigerator up to 3 days or freeze in ¼-cup portions.